Athletic training apparatus

ABSTRACT

The modular constructed apparatus includes an elongated rod with impact members on each end and a spring means to bias the rod medially of its length. An indicator is provided for determining the greater exertion of force being applied by trainees on respective impact members. Also, the impact members may be positioned either horizontally or vertically.

United States Patent [191 Krug [4 1 Mar. 25, 1975 ATHLETIC TRAININGAPPARATUS 3,427,021 2/1969 Donate 273/55 R 3,514,105 5/1970 Pillard273/55 R A 5 lnvemor- Krug Jacksonvllle, 3,578,324 4/1971 Alvey 273/55 RAssignee: Inc Jacksonvill Sheets i R Fla. Primary ExaminerRichard C.Pinkham [22] Flled: 1973 Assistant Examiner-T. Brown 2 App] 424 1 7Attorney, Agent, 0r Firm--Arthur G. Yeager; George H. Baldwin [52] US.Cl 273/55 R [51] Int. Cl A63b 67/00 [57] ABSTRACT [58] em of Search273/55 R 55 272/79 The modular constructed apparatus includes an elon-272/82 83 gated rod with impact members on each end and a spring meansto bias the rod medially of its length. An [56] References Citedindicator is provided for determining the greater exertion of forcebeing applied by trainees on respective UNITED STATES PATENTS impactmembers. Also, the impact members may be gages 273/55 R positionedeither horizontally or vertically. aineye a..... 3,329,428 7/1967 Moran273/55 R 10 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures 1 ATHLETIC TRAINING APPARATUSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The inventionrelates to athletic training apparatus, and more particularly toapparatus for teaching, training and developing players in footballtactics and tech niques.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART' There have been many prior art footballtraining sleds and the like apparatus, exemplary of which are thoseillustrated in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,558,081; 2,653,816;2,967,709; 3,062,547; 3,216,724; 3,329,428; 3,365,947; 3,427,021;3,514,105; and 3,578,324. None ofthese patents either alone or in anyappropriate combination anticipate the invention disclosed herein orrender same unpatentable, nor are the results produced by the instantinvention accomplished by the prior art, as hereinafter made apparent tothose skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The athletic training apparatus in accordancewith the present invention includes a support means and an elongated rodhaving opposite end portions and a medial portion slidingly attached tothe support means. A pair of impact members are provided on respectiverod end portions for contact with parts of the body of one or moretrainees. Associated with the rod is resilient means for biasing the rodgenerally centrally of the support means with the end portionsprotruding substan tially the same distance outwardly from the supportmeans.

Other. aspects are included in which each impact member has an elongatedbase and selective means for securing each base alternatively in anupright position and a horizontal position, thus providing the apparatuswith increased flexibility of use. The resilient means in one embodimentincludes a pair of springs located between the support means andrespective impact members, while in another embodiment, includes aspring attachedto the rod generally medial ofthe rod with the ends ofthe spring being secured to the support means. In the one embodiment asleeve is surroundingly disposed about and slidingly supports the rod,with the sleeve being affixed to andsupported by the support means. Apair of shoulders in the form of flanges are disposed adjacentrespective impact members, and the pair of springs are located betweenthe support means and respective shoulders or flanges. The rod includesa pair of mutually perpendicular openings which cooperate with anelongated slot in the sleeve, and a guiding pin is positioned in theslot and disposed in selected openings to rotatively position andmaintain the impact members.

Another aspect of the invention is described in which the support meansincludes a pair of spaced upstanding posts with the resilient meansbeing attached to and extending therebetween. Connecting means areemployed to attach'the rod to the resilient means to bias the rodgenerally medially between the posts. The resilient means may be anelongated coiled spring affixed at each end to the posts, and theconnecting means may include an element connected to and extendinglaterally of the rod. A pin is attached between the posts and an endportion of the element is slidingly disposed on the pin. A pair ofslidable rings are mounted on the pin on respective sides of the elementend portion for visually indicating the greater exertion of forcesapplied to one of the impact members.

In yet another aspect the support means is seen to include a generallyhorizontal sled and a pair of spaced posts upstanding therefrom with thecoiled spring surrounding the rod. The rod has a non-circularcrosssection extending at least along its medial length which slidesthrough the posts and each post has an opening accommodating such rod ofcomplemental shape to inhibit rotation of the rod. In this regard theimpact members amy be removed and reattached to either of two mutuallyperpendicular positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The novel features which are believedto be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularityin the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to itsorganization and method of operation, together with further objects andadvantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the first embodiment of the athletictraining apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, showingthe alternate positions of the impact members in broken lines;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a crosssectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the second embodiment of the athletictraining apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is an end elevational view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

' FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 88 of FIG. 7; v

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 7; and

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularlyto the drawings of FIGS. 1 5, the athletic training apparatus, in accordwith the first embodiment of the invention, is generally designated byreference numeral 10 and includes a support means 11, such support means11 comprising a generally horizontal, ground engaging sled l2 and a pairof spaced posts 13 and I4 rigidly connected to and upstanding therefrom.

An elongated rod 20 having a circular cross-sectional configuration isattached by means, in the form of cylindrical casing or sleeve 21 andaligned openings 22 and 23 in respective upper end portions 24 and 25 ofposts 13. and 14, such latter means providing sliding attachment of themedial portion 26 of the rod 20 disposed therein to theposts 13 and 14with the outer or opposite ends 27 and 28 respectively protrudingoutwardly from post 13 and 14.

A pair of impact members 29 and 30 are respectively mounted to theopposite end portions 31 and 32 of rod 20 for contact with partsof thebody of one or more trainees. Impact member 30, as seen in FIG. 4,includes a generally rectangular metal back plate 33 securely affixed torod end portion 32, as by welding or the like, and a covered cushion 34releasably fastened to back plate 33 in any conventional manner.Reinforcing ribs 35 and 35' are welded along the back plate 33 forrigidfying same, and a short sleeve or tube section 36 is also welded atend portion 37 to back .plate 33. The opposite end 38 of section 36terminates-in an outwardly extending shoulder or flange against which anend 39 of a resilient means, in the form of a compression spring 40, isdisposed. The opposite end 41 of the compression spring is in engagementwith the shoulder portion 42 of upright post 14 which generallyvsurrounds opening 23. Preferably, the end 41 of spring 40 is loopedthrough the opening 23 or through a distinct other opening in post 14 toinhibit disengagement of thespring 40 from the post 14 due to a forcebeing exerted onto impact member 29.

The resilient means, including springs 40 and 52, surround rod 20 andbias the rod 20 generally centrally thereof with the end portions 27 and28 protruding substantially the same distance outwardly from respectiveposts 13 and 14.

Sleeve 21 includes an elongated slot 43 through which a pin 44 extendsand rides upon movement of rod 20. The rod 20 is provided with a pair ofmutually perpendicular passageways 45 and 46 and the pin 44 isselectively positioned in either of such'passageways depending onwhether the impact members 29 and 30 are to be in the generallyhorizontal position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, or in the verticalposition shown by brokenlines 50 of FIG. 2. This selective positioningof the impact members 29 and 30 is readily accomplished by merewithdrawal of pin 44 from passageway 45, rotating rod 20 by 90, and thenreinserting pin 44 through slot 43 and into passageway 46.

A trainee may engage one of the impact members 29 or 30 or a pair oftrainees may engage respective impact members 29 and 30. Thus, whentrainees are engaging respective impact members 29 and 30, the traineesare participating in man to man competition and the coach or trainer candetermine which trainee is hitting the impact member the hardest andwhich trainee is quicker to respond to the command to hit the impactmember or to respond to seeing the ball hiked. With impact members 29and 30 in the horizontalposition, two trainees may engage each suchimpact member, i.e., tow trainees against two other trainees.

While the athletic training apparatus as shown in FIGS. 15, includesanother sled 60 and corresponding other components identical to thecomponents mounted on sled 12, it is to be understood that additionalsleds may be added thereto or subtracted therefrom by adding orsubtracting cross bars, for example, bars 61 and 62, from such sleds.Thus, a two, four, six, eight or-ten impact members may be provided onthe modular constructed training apparatus in accord with thisinvention.

The second embodiment of the training apparatus in accord with thisinvention is depicted in FIGS. 6 to 10 and is generally designated byreference numeral 70, apparatus 70 comprising a sled 71 and'a pair ofupstanding posts72 and 73 slidingly supporting elongated 4 rod 74 withina pair of aligned openings, including opening 75, in respective posts 72and 73. The rod' 74 is preferably of a non-circular or rectangularcrosssecctional configuration at least sufficiently along its mediallength 76 which slides through the openings, including opening 75, ofcomplemental shape to accommodate the non-circular cross-section of therod 74 to prevent rotation thereof within such post openings.

The impact member 78 includes a cushion assembly 79 rigidly andremovably attached to rectangular metal plate 80 by a plurality ofspaced nutand bolts 8]. Extending rearwardly from and rigidly secured toeach plate 80 is a socket member 82 of a complemental shaped opening 83for the reception thereinto of the end portion 84 of rod 74, rod endportion 84 being provided with mutually perpendicular passageway 85 and86 through which a spring loaded locking pin 87 extends. Such anarrangement permits the alternate positioning of the impact members 78in either the horizontal or vertical positions, but, without rotatingtheentire rod, such as is shown in the first embodiment of the invention ofFIGS. 1 5.

A resilient means, in the form of an elongated coiled spring 90, issuitably affixed at its ends to the posts 72 and 73 by U-shaped clamp91. Spring 90 surrounds rod 74 and provides essentially the same springaction to the rod 74 as the two coil springs 40 and 52 of the firstembodiment. Means are provided for connecting rod 74 to the coil spring90 and is seen to include an elongated pin 92 attached between posts 72and 73 and generally parallel with and spaced above rod 74 and spring 90and a late-rally extending element 93 slidingly disposed on pin 92.Element 93 is rigidly affixed to and extends laterally outwardly of rod74 generally medially thereof and extends through a turn of the coiledspring 90, as clearly shown in FIGS. 7 and 9. Thus, when one trainee isengaging the right impact member 78, the trainee would be compressingthe left end .portion 94 of spring 90 while tensioning the right endportion 94 thereof. A pair of slidable rings 96 and 97 are frictionallyand slidingly disposed on pin 92 on either side of element 93 so thatthe trainer may suitably determine the greater exertion of force beingapplied to one of the impact members 79 attached to rod 74 by oppositelypushing or hitting trainees engaging such impact members, i.e., whenring 96 assumes a position further away from the element 93 after forcesare applied to the impact members 79, then the right impact member 79was hit harder than the left impact member 79, as would be visuallyperceived by the trainer as well as the trainees.

The sled 71 is suitably connected to another sled 100 by cross bars 101removably attached by nuts and bolts 102 to box member 103 welded alongsled 71. In this second embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, atwo, four, six, eight or ten impact member training apparatus may beconstructed as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art. I

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specificembodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changesmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appendedclaims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the mventlon.

What is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

1. In an athletic training apparatus the combination comprising asupport means, an elongated rod having opposite end portions and amedial portion, means for slidingly attaching said medial portionto-said support means with said opposite end portions protrudingoutwardly therefrom, a pair of impact members mounted on respective saidrod end portions for contact with parts of the body of one or moretrainees, resilient means associated with said rod for biasing said rodgenerally centrally of said support means with said end portionsprotruding substantially the same distance outwardly from said supportmeans.

2. In the apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said impactmembers includes an elongated base, selective means for securing eachsaid base alternatively in an upright position and a horizontalposition.

3. In the apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient meansincludes a pair of springs located between said support means andrespective said impact members.

4. In the apparatus as defined in claim 3 further com prising a pair ofsleeves surrounding said rod and located adjacent respective said impactmembers, each said sleeve having a shoulder extending laterallyoutwardly of said rod, said springs being disposed between said supportmeans and respective said shoulders.

5. In the apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said support meansincludes an elongated sleeve having an elongated slot therealong, saidrod including a pair of mutually perpendicular passageways therethrough,said apparatus further comprising a pin guidable in said slot anddisposable in either of said passageways whereby the rotative positionof said impact members may be selected.

6. In the apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said support meansincludes a pair of spaced upstanding posts, said resilient means beingattached to and extend between said posts, means for connecting said rodto said resilient means.

7. In the apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said resilient meansincludes an elongated coiled spring affixed at each end to respectivesaid posts, said means for connecting including an element connected toand extending laterally of said rod generally medially thereof, saidresilient means being located between and contacted by said element andeach of said posts.

8. In the apparatus as defined in claim 6 further comprising a pinattached between said posts, said element having an end portionslidingly disposed on said pin, and a pair of slidable rings disposed onsaid pin on respective sides of said element end portion whereby thegreater exertion of force applied to one of said impact members istransmitted by said rod to said element and thence to said ring remotefrom said one impact member to visually indicate such greater exertionof force.

9. In the apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said support meansincludes a generally horizontal sled and a pair of spaced postsupstanding therefrom.

10. In the apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said resilient meansincludes an elongated coiled spring surrounding said rod and connectedto and between said spaced posts, an element attached to said rodgenerally medially thereof and extending laterally outwardly therefromand between a pair of turns of said spring, said rod having anon-circular cross-section extending at least sufficiently along itsmemdial length which slides through said posts, each said post having anopening generally of complemental shape to accommodate the non'circularcross-section of said rod to inhibit rotation of said rod.

1. In an athletic training apparatus the combination comprising asupport means, an elongated rod having opposite end portions and amedial portion, means for slidingly attaching said medial portion tosaid support means with said opposite end portions protruding outwardlytherefrom, a pair of impact members mounted on respective said rod endportions for contact with parts of the body of one or more trainees,resilient means associated with said rod for biasing said rod generallycentrally of said support means with said end portions protrudingsubstantially the same distance outwardly from said support means.
 2. Inthe apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said impact membersincludes an elongated base, selective means for securing each said basealternatively in an upright position and a horizontal position.
 3. Inthe apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient meansincludes a pair of springs located between said support means andrespective said impact members.
 4. In the apparatus as defined in claim3 further comprising a pair of sleeves surrounding said rod and locatedadjacent respective said impact members, each said sleeve having ashoulder extending laterally outwardly of said rod, said springs beingdisposed between said support means and respective said shoulders.
 5. Inthe apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said support means includesan elongated sleeve having an elongated slot therealong, said rodincluding a pair of mutually perpendicular passageways therethrough,said apparatus further comprising a pin guidable in said slot anddisposable in either of said passageways whereby the rotative positionof said impact members may be selected.
 6. In the apparatus as definedin claim 1 wherein said support means includes a pair of spacedupstanding posts, said resilient means being attached to and extendbetween said posts, meanS for connecting said rod to said resilientmeans.
 7. In the apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said resilientmeans includes an elongated coiled spring affixed at each end torespective said posts, said means for connecting including an elementconnected to and extending laterally of said rod generally mediallythereof, said resilient means being located between and contacted bysaid element and each of said posts.
 8. In the apparatus as defined inclaim 6 further comprising a pin attached between said posts, saidelement having an end portion slidingly disposed on said pin, and a pairof slidable rings disposed on said pin on respective sides of saidelement end portion whereby the greater exertion of force applied to oneof said impact members is transmitted by said rod to said element andthence to said ring remote from said one impact member to visuallyindicate such greater exertion of force.
 9. In the apparatus as definedin claim 1 wherein said support means includes a generally horizontalsled and a pair of spaced posts upstanding therefrom.
 10. In theapparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said resilient means includes anelongated coiled spring surrounding said rod and connected to andbetween said spaced posts, an element attached to said rod generallymedially thereof and extending laterally outwardly therefrom and betweena pair of turns of said spring, said rod having a non-circularcross-section extending at least sufficiently along its memdial lengthwhich slides through said posts, each said post having an openinggenerally of complemental shape to accommodate the non-circularcross-section of said rod to inhibit rotation of said rod.